Talk:Army of Me/@comment-24712996-20140331211552
Continuing on from a great post Alaura made below (I hope you don't mind me using it!) I would like to say that I am quite tired of the vilification of those who are victims of people who disrespect their privacy and do not understand the concept of consent. Privacy between partners, be it sexual or otherwise, should be respected and permission should be taken no matter what sex you are if you want to share intimate photographs. When Dylan Sprouse's revealing pictures were leaked by someone who he had trusted then there was a lot of mocking and I remember reading tweets where people where trying to find links to see it. It was like they had forgotten the fact that here was a young man who had made an error in judgement about who to trust, however, he was at no fault himself because someone else took advantage of his trust, and it was there for their amusement. It was there for them to oogle and mock. Forget this was an actual person with feelings, yeah, let's see something not meant or intended for our eyes. People only saw a celebrity, a relative stranger really if you want to get deep, and deemed it as being acceptable to prey in on one of their most vulnerable moments which will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Dylan used humour to make light of the situation and acknowledged that his trust was not placed wisely, however, there were so many people making fun of his body and, er, package. But wait, Elle, you make fun of Zig's dick all the time? The difference is that Zig is a fictional character whereas I have made clear that Ricardo is not the one who is subjected to my very awful humour of trying to create an atmosphere of comedic relief. It would literally pain me to subject someone to mocking over their body when we all have insecurities, most in our head, which do not need to be encouraged. Imagine the worst moment of your life. Imagine that moment where you realised that you have been betrayed, made to look foolish, by someone you trusted. And now imagine living that moment for the whole WORLD to see. Once it gets out there then it's out there forever. Everyone you know, your family and friends, will see it as well as future employers and lovers. Some will be understanding, however, others will not proceed to sympathise with the situation you have been put in. To be honest, I don't know much about Jennette McCurdy's pictures, however, I would like to bring up someone whose story made me cry and even now I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. Amanda Todd was a young woman who was bullied by her peers and someone who had taken pictures exposing herself after being convinced by a guy she liked. He then shared these pictures without her consent or knowledge and her bullying escalted so badly that she felt the need to take her life. A young woman couldn't find solace in a world where people were so quick to blame and judge without reflecting upon their own actions and realising the impact of their words, what they took as humour, and this had a devasting effect. We're so quick to shame others. At some point or another we've all been guilty of judging someone harshly without understanding their situation. However, remember when you're making fun of the Dylan Sprouse's and Jennette McCurdy's that you're also making fun and light of the situation so many other people, those who don't have support from fans, have unfortunately found themselves in. They're first knocked back by betrayal and then hit by those who do not provide sympathy, understanding and a place where we can all sit around and comfort each other over the mistakes we shall inevitably make. No-one is perfect. When these pictures are leaked and you're tempted to take a sneak peek or make fun of these celebrities or that girl/guy somewhere in the world then ask yourself if you're fine with the fact their consent, their basic right to decide how they live their lives, was taken away. It's a tough old world out. Let us not make it more difficult for anyone. -sorry for the long text but I once I started writing then I couldn't stop -